Mayhem
by wasH2SO4
Summary: Akane has spent the last five years as a recluse, plagued by crippling agoraphobia. Now that her mother has passed away, fending for herself seems an impossible task. Could an unexpected phone call from a former colleague of her father's turn out to be her salvation—or a trap? (Genos/OC)
1. Chapter 1

"Alrighty now, up you go!" My father gave a grunt as he hoisted me up onto the console with difficulty. He always said he was too old to have a daughter so young, but I never knew the difference. To me, it was weird that all of the other girls my age had young dads, whose hairlines were lush, whose smiles were creaseless, whose glasses were not as thick as hockey pucks.

"Now, then," he said, trying not to seem too terribly winded by the effort. "Why don't we see if we can't calibrate these knew prototypes…"

Father's test console was a long, bulky thing, laden with keys and buttons, cluttered with Styrofoam cups and candy wrappers from end to end. A dozen monitors screamed into an otherwise dim room, affording a constant stream of information, hundreds of factors and variables that my father would take in, all at once, test after test, never tiring nor wandering from his work. At the other side of the room was a huge reinforced window, separating us from the test room, which, for the time being, had to be filled with lower-density gases to sustain the experiments that, day after day, consumed my father's time.

He always said he was a work-a-holic, and mother agreed, but what difference did it make? To me, it was the other dads who thought there was time to rest that were strange.

"Well, then, Akane-chan, what do you think of that?" father said, pointing to the monitor highest and furthest to the right.

I turned my gaze up to it, tilting my head curiously. My tiny mouth opened a little in awe, eyes lighting up. "Can we really turn it up that high!?" I exclaimed.

Father let out a chuckle. "Sure, why not? No point holding back now!"

I glanced at him momentarily, smile spreading like an infection across my face, giddy and eager, but then, a twinge in my heart ripped the smile away. It couldn't be helped. Father had been working on this project for as long as I could remember, and so, most of the time, I never saw him. But in the summers, mother and I would come to the laboratory to see him and cheer him on. Only, this year was different. My parents were separating and mother didn't want to see him, so it was just me.

"Now, now, what happened to all of that excitement? I promise you, this is going to be the best explosion you've ever seen, my dear! How about this? I'll let you turn it up as high as you like!" He gave me a wink, gesturing welcomingly at the dial. But all I could do was sigh.

"It's just not the same without mom. I wish she could watch it with us."

Father's smile fell and he let his breath escape in sorrow. "I know. I feel the same way. But… things don't always work out the way we plan."

I dropped my head, hoping to hide my budding tears, wiping aggressively with my sleeve. "It's not fair! She's just so selfish!"

Dad tsk'd admonishingly, smoothing my hair down in an effort to soothe me.

"That's no way to talk about your mother, now. Remember, your old dad hasn't exactly been there for her. She's been looking after you all by herself all these years, and the heart can only take so much!"

I shook my head. "But couldn't she find some other way to make it work? Why does she have to break our family apart!"

Father hummed, slicking his thinning hair back in frustration. The same peach pit red as mine. "Well, my girl, you know we only get one life to live."

I looked up at him with a pout, already puffy from the tears. "What does that have to do with anything?"

He managed a small grin. "Your mother deserves to live hers the way she wants, doesn't she? Someday, you might want to do the same."

I crossed my arms indignantly. "No way! I'd never do that."

Father chuckled. "Maybe so. But whatever you end up doing, I'm sure there will always be someone disapproving of it entirely. There are just that many people in the world. Just look at our work here at the lab. We've produced so many incredible technologies, things that the world never even imagined when I was your age. We've built prosthetics that allow people to lift fifty times their own weight or see at a hundred times twenty-twenty, tiny robots that can take infinite forms from toasters to ion cannons, refined nuclear fusion reactors down to battery packs small enough to fit in a book bag and safe enough to lay beside a newborn baby. Technology that can make ordinary people like you and me into indestructible super heroes. Yet still, crowds gather on the streets in protest at what we do."

I blinked at him, unfazed. It was true. Classmates were always harassing me, saying that their daddies told them that my daddy was an evil militaristic radical, a mad scientist, a loose cannon, a freak. But, to me, it was their dads, with their nine-to-five sales jobs, answering telephones and filling out paperwork, that were the freaks. Yet, how was that supposed to make me feel better?

Sighing, my father produced a crinkly smile. "Well, maybe if you brag about this explosion, she'll get so jealous that she'll change her mind, hm?"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Wordlessly, I leaned over the keys to grab hold of the shiny, black dial, turning just until it could be turned no further. Father gave an impressed whistle.

"Even _I'm_ a little bit nervous about that. Are you sure?"

I nodded definitively, and father, sheepishly scratching the back of his head, hesitated.

"Daaad," I whined. "You promised!"

"Too true," he replied. "I guess a promise is a promise. Will you do the honors, Akane-chan?"

He didn't have to tell me twice. With delight, I flipped the heavy switch that armed the ignition, and turned the key that opened the latch to the glowing red launch button, which I pressed with glee.

Father began to sweat profusely as the countdown began. I had long since noticed that adults didn't have much nerve for bad decisions. I had no such handicap, and guilelessly skipped across the room, pressed my face to the window until, flattened like a pancake, I barely had enough space to breathe. Oh, how I loved explosions.

10… 9…

Father glanced nervously at the abort button. Maybe he should…

7… 6… 5…

After all, it was better to disappoint his little girl just a bit than to…

4… 3…

A long, low rumble echoed through the halls, shaking the lab like an earthquake.

"What was that?" my father wondered aloud.

I pressed my face a little harder into the window, excitement peaking. My face fell in frustration as suddenly the power died and all of the machines around us sighed themselves to sleep, leaving a deafening silence in their wake. "Awwww," I groaned.

"What in the world is—"

Then, out of nowhere, from the right, the iron walls peeled apart with an ear-splitting roar, and I only saw for a fraction of a second the fast approaching form of a massive metal object as it came hurtling toward me, before, like the sky after a lightning strike, everything went black.

…

My heart beat in my ears.

I could barely hold my eyes open as I wobbled feverishly. Everything was blurry, but I could faintly hear the trickle of water and the knocking of metal. My eyes soon focused in on the scene before me. Sunlight filtered in from above, illuminating burst pipes, crumpled steel, wreckage and ruin.

I tried to move and let out a weak groan as an incredible pain overwhelmed my body. I turned my head to find the source.

 _No_. I couldn't believe this. This was just a bad dream, right? On my right side, pinned between some heavy machinery and the crumbling wall was my arm… and even with my inexperienced eyes, I could see it was beyond salvation.

The creaking of metal drew my gaze to the center of the room. There, in the light, was my father, struggling to sit up, covered in soot and blood. I could see glass imbedded in his cheek. His broken glasses hung uselessly off of his face and he clutched his side, groaning in agony. Then, something huge began to step into the light. A mechanical monstrosity that I had never seen before.

"You'll never get away with this!" My father hoarsely managed, blood bursting from his mouth only a second later.

"I already have," a distorted voice replied. Slowly, it raised its metal arm as a hot white light began to collect at its palm, whistling and popping like microwave popcorn.

My eyes grew wide. _No no no no no_. This was definitely a bad dream, right? I began to yank at my arm desperately, beyond the grip of any pain in the face of losing my father. My heart pounded like a drum, each beat like a bomb in my ears. I had to do something!

"Rest in peace, Doctor McCrory."

" _No! Dad!_ "

And, just like that, in a blast of white, my father was gone.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it's a bit short! Please let me know what you think. I really appreciate reviews, good or bad. :3


	2. Chapter 2

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

My eyes opened, assailed by the bright, invasive light of the LCD. Pressed to the fiberboard surface of my desk, my face was plastered with drool and my neck ached terribly. Yawning, it seemed, was out of the question. I rubbed my eyes weakly. Had I really passed out at my desk _again_? Just as well. I probably couldn't have slept on the bed if I wanted to, as much junk as had been piled there. Grumbling incoherently, I shut off the alarm, only to do a double-take when I realized the time.

 _7:00 AM!?_

I sucked in a breath, clutching my chest as I turned every shade of blue and purple. No way, no way, no way. I swiveled back to my desk, knocking over stacks of manga and trash. How could I let myself fall asleep at a time like this? The deadline was in an hour and I had only written—

My mouth fell open as I scanned the monitor. I furrowed my brows, blinking disbelievingly at the wall of xors and semicolons on my screen. _Three hundred lines of code_? How did I manage to squeeze that into my six-hour snooze? It was done? With an hour to spare? Wow. I must have really been in the zone! _Yeah, the Twilight Zone_ , I pretended not to have thought. I rubbed my eyes vigorously and looked a little closer. Sure enough, the counter still read a magical three hundred.

I thought this over only for a moment before shrugging and hurrying off to the kitchen. No point looking a gift horse in the mouth, right?

Groggily, I flipped on the lights and reached for the coffee maker, only to find, to my horror, a moldy coffee filter still festering within. I grimaced in disgust. Well, how about some juice, then? Sure enough, I opened up to a completely empty fridge. There wasn't even a bottle of ketchup or a forgotten takeout box. Literally nothing. My stomach groaned.

 _That's right_ , I thought. _Mom always did the grocery shopping._

I slammed the fridge door, turning to find a massive pile of dishes in the sink. I wrapped my arms around my torso in surprise, a curse slipping from my lips. Where did those come from? _Oh yeah_ , I thought. _Mom always did the dishes._

My chest ached again, and I could do nothing to stop the swell of emotions. Was I always so completely useless? I never noticed it before… but as I wrapped myself up in a thousand layers of focus, who was it that shuffled around in the background, gathering up the discarded wrappers and Styrofoam cups?

I pursed my lips. I couldn't keep dwelling on that. More importantly, all of these dishes… Someone should really do them. _I should really do them_. I rubbed my arm—the insubstantial, battery-powered, plastic shell that I called an arm. I really, really ought to do those dishes. After all, they reek, and if I leave them, there will be bugs before long. Heck, there probably already are. I mean, it would be easy. I just have to rinse them and put them in the dishwasher. No biggie. Ten minutes, tops.

…

Sighing, I turned away from them. But no! No, no, no! I spun back on my heel, slamming my hands down on the counter. I really ought to do these dishes, damn it! Breathing heavily, I stared blankly into the pile. Come on, Akane! Just… But how do I even start?

My muscles loosened and I collapsed back on my heels, defeated. I wiped my sweat on my sleeve. Maybe I should just watch some anime or something. Yeah.

That was when I heard it. Faint at first, but sure enough, there it was: the electronic tones of _Koi wa Sensou_ , blaring through a million layers of dirty clothes and a crackling, low-def phone speaker. My ringtone, painstakingly cropped, had been completely unheard for the last two weeks. After all, mom was the only person who ever called me. So, who could _this_ be? Some extremely persistent bill collector? I broke into a sprint and zipped across the house, digging through a mountain of unwashed garments. Before long, I found it.

I found myself sweating as I gazed down at the unfamiliar number. Should I answer it? No. No no no no no! Talking on the phone was almost worse than talking in person, and I… I chewed on my lip. But what if it was important? I had never included my phone number on my resume, so it couldn't be for work. All of the bills were payed online. The bank always contacted mom via E-mail. All of her affairs had been settled, too. So why? Who on earth would call my phone?

Hands shaking, my fingers hovered over the touch screen. What should I do? Shutting my eyes in a panic, I swiped quickly to the left, rejecting the call. Suddenly, all of the tension in my body seemed to melt away. I let out a big breath, thoroughly relieved. But then…

 _It started ringing again._

I let out a shrill exclamation of distress, pulling at my hair. What!? They called back!? Oh no oh no oh no what do I do? _Just answer it_ , I tried to pretend I hadn't thought.

"Okay… okay okay okay okay… It's just a phone call, so…" I gulped hard, steadied my breathing and, wincing, swiped to the right. Tremblingly, I lifted the speaker to my ear.

"Hello!?" I practically screamed into the phone, eyes wide, pale and rigid.

" _Oh my—uh—Hello_? _Might this be Akane-chan_?"

I furrowed my brows. How long had it been since the last time someone called me that? How long since I heard my name spoken _at all_? I started to answer, but instead, my lips moved soundlessly, like a fish out of water, gasping for breath, only to realize that its lungs weren't meant for the cold, dry air of man.

" _Hello? Is anyone there?_ "

I shook my head. This was no time for a case of nerves! Speak!

"Y-yes! This is Akane!"

" _Eh? Akane-chan!? Wonderful! I was hoping to catch you awake. Do you know who this is?"_

I frowned. My face was so sweaty. I was holding the phone so tight. My heart was pounding. But this person was none the wiser, so maybe phone conversations had their perks.

"N-no…?"

A hearty laugh. " _I didn't think you would remember me. Last time I saw you, you were barely waist-high! My name is Doctor Kuseno. I'm an old associate of your father's._ "

I straightened a little bit, the pounding in my heart momentarily alleviated. "Of… my father's…?"

" _Yes, that's right. I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to Sakako-chan—eh, well, your mother. She was much too young._ "

I winced. She _was_ too young. And I was an idiot. I was too scared to leave the house even to see her at the hospital or attend her funeral. I imagined her weeping in heaven at what a hopeless girl she raised.

"Yeah…"

" _Oh! I should be ashamed of myself for reopening fresh wounds so recklessly. I'm afraid I only just found out today. This old man has been too wrapped up in his work, it seems. Tell me, Akane-chan, how are you doing?"_

I tilted my head. What a strange call. I wiped some of the sweat from my forehead. "Um… I…" My voice croaked and I winced anew, clearing my throat. "I'm…" I paused to look around at the wreckage and filth that was my room. Was that a moldy sandwich poking out from under the laundry? Yeugh…

" _Akane-chan_?"

"I-I'm fine!" The words came out a little harsher than I meant.

"… _Oh. Well, I'm glad to hear it. Hrm… Eh! Now, if I remember correctly, there was a certain young lady who was very talented with her studies! You must be in college right about now?"_

I frowned. "Well… that is…" I hadn't gone. I never even finished high school. Mom always used to scold me about it, but I just couldn't go back. Not after what happened. Besides, who needs school? You can learn everything you need on the internet.

" _Hmm? Is the connection bad?"_

I sighed. "I… uh… I'm finished with school…"

" _Ohh!_ _As one would expect, Akane-chan! What was your major?_ "

I was beginning to feel light headed. Did I forget to breathe again? I shuffled my feet. "Um… Software engineering?"

" _Ohhh! Taking after your dear father, eh? He would be very proud. I think he always hoped you'd inherit his love for science. Are you working in the field yet?"_

I rubbed uncomfortably at the base of my neck. So, so sweaty. "Er… I'm freelancing."

" _Tsk, tsk! That won't do. Some nameless little contractor is so easily forgotten in today's market. And you're on your own, so you should really have stable work, shouldn't you?_ "

"Uh… I make enough to get by." Barely.

" _Nonsense! You should aim higher! A young woman of your talent should have ambition!"_

This was a familiar line. My mother used to say the same thing. "Uh… No, it's fine… it's pretty tough to find steady work from home. Most places want you to go in from nine to five…"

A pensive silence. " _I see… Well, I'm a bit of a night owl myself…_ "

I blinked. That wasn't really the problem, but… I guess normal people probably didn't live in self-imposed seclusion, after all. He couldn't possibly imagine what I was living with. _But is this really living?_ I pretended not to have thought.

" _Well, say, I happen to be looking for an assistant myself. Are you still living in City Z?"_

My eyebrows shot up and the sweating resumed. "Uh—Yes, but—"

" _Perfect! Why don't you come to my lab tomorrow and feel it out? I assure you, the work is much more fulfilling than debugging login pages. Say… noon? Ah, make it one, that way you can have lunch with us. I'll text you the details!"_

Abruptly, he hung up, leaving me slack-jawed and stunned. No way was I leaving this house. No way, no how! And certainly not to meet with some stranger. And… did he say _us_? I shuddered. Not a chance.

* * *

A/N: Unfortunately, this chapter is a bit short, too. It's going to be a few more chapters before we really start seeing any action, though, so please bear with me. If you want to see some artwork of Akane, check out my devART page. The username is ZeroHope2Survive. :3 Reviews are deeply appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

The Next Day, 9:00 AM

I lay awake in bed, surrounded by a sea of dirty clothes and magazines. Like every morning before it, for god knows how long, I wondered idly. What day is it anyway? It didn't feel any different from yesterday, last week, last year. Had it been ten minutes, or ten hours? When was the last time I talked to a person?

Ugh. I cringed. I still had that invitation from that Doctor Kuseno to think about. The thought of that torture was enough to make me feel sick. Who needs people anyway, when I have… I looked around my room, at the push-pinned posters and neatly arranged fleet of plastic figures at my bedside. I picked one up delicately and tenderly caressed the side of its tiny vinyl cheek.

"I don't need _3D_ people when I have _you_ , Sasuke-kun. You're more than enough for me." Blushing, I gave the figure a kiss and set it down gingerly, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed.

There was no use brooding on it. I wasn't going to go, obviously. I'd never have the courage. I barely had the courage to get out of bed and make some coffee, and doing so now was all I had in me for today.

With a yawn, I bowed over the counter, resting my elbows at either side of the coffee maker, and watched absently as each drip of dark liquid splattered into little life-giving caffeinated droplets at the bottom of a lazily rinsed coffee pot. As I fixated impatiently on each drip, marveling at the way each joined the homogenous sea of black below, my body seemed to detect what my mind had been desperately trying to ignore, the fingers flouting the brain's authority as they anxiously wrung together.

I hadn't cleaned a thing in… well, ever, probably. Had I bathed, at least? I looked down at my clothes. How long had I been wearing these grungy things? I ran my fingers through my hair. Greasy. Tangled. I let out a sigh. All the more reason to flake on that invitation, right?

Quietly, the coffee maker clicked off, and for a second, it reminded me of myself. Other appliances announced themselves so noisily. The drier buzzed at the end of a cycle, _get 'em while they're warm!_ The oven beeped when the timer ran out, _if you don't hurry, I WILL burn this_ , _damn you!_ But the humble coffee maker just switches off as quietly as it can, and gently warms your drink for you until you're ready to come and start the day. _What a spineless device_ , I pretended not to have thought. I clenched my fists and pursed my lips, but only for a second before I remembered that I didn't even have a clean mug to drink this with.

And thus, I went about my day, coding, writing fanfiction, peering nervously through the peephole at my door, eating toast in lieu of cooking, not cleaning, once or twice succumbing to frivolous Amazon purchases—you can never have too much yaoi doujinshi, right? Just a normal day, right?

No. Not a normal day. No matter how I tried to push the thought aside, I kept thinking about Doctor Kuseno's offer. It's not that I really wanted to be around people for once. On the contrary, that was the obstacle here. But all of those years, I wondered about that day in the lab, about the mechanical monstrosity that crushed my arm and murdered my father. The government had declared the details of the event classified, and no amount of digging ever seemed to return any results. Even my mother's lips were sealed, and any time I asked her, she would just go cold and stiff and change the subject. But maybe this associate of my father's…

I sighed. Well, obviously, I had no choice but to go, so what was I doing wasting time?

Thus, at twelve fifty-five in the afternoon, I cowered behind a bus stop, trembling. The world was so loud, so bright. It was overwhelming. There were so many people and all of their footfalls and mutterings in unison were like the crackle of thunder. The high sun beamed down, reflecting from windows and chrome plating, even from the humblest keychains, and it was blinding, like the flash of lightning.

As I sat there, curled into a ball, yanking down on my hood and up on my scarf, trying to disappear into these folds of clothing, disintegrate into invisibility, my eyes danced away from one disdainful face after another until I found them welded to the ground, to the moving shadows of shuffling pedestrians. I imagined people stopping to point at me, to laugh, to make contemptuous expressions at me.

At last, my eyes found the door just beyond the crowd, nestled between a pharmacist and an antique shop, that bore the suite number Dr. Kuseno had sent me.

I gulped. If I ripped the bandaid off quick, I could be there in no time. But then I would have to deal with the doctor and whoever "us" was. I had made it so far already, though. I went _outside_. For the first time in _years_. What a feat! What a terrifying, perilous, death-defying, _completely mundane, ordinary, every-day feat_. I curled a little tighter into my sweater. How pathetic was I? In the middle of summer, wearing all these layers, just so I can pretend that people don't see me.

I took in a deep breath. No. I wasn't going to turn back now. This Kuseno person said he knew my father, after all. This might be my only chance to finally get some closure on the matter. I had been up all night mulling it over. The number he called from was restricted, and so I couldn't call or text it back without getting a dial tone or a fail message. There were no listings for a Doctor Kuseno anywhere, either. It crossed my mind once or twice that this could be a set up for a kidnapping or something equally nefarious. But I managed to convince myself that that was silly… and totally worth the risk for what I might get in return.

Well, this was it. It was now or never. I took a deep breath, squeezed the straps of my backpack, and poised myself for a mad dash. Vaulting over the bus stop and into the street, I toppled bystanders. Horns blared, tires squealed, drivers barked. At last, I dodge-rolled across the sidewalk, breathing heavily, to find my hands pressed against the door. I made it.

Around me, a crowd of confused onlookers had formed and their hushed whispers were like sirens in my ears. I ripped the door open and threw myself inside, slamming it behind me. I couldn't take that. Not again.

When I regained my senses and looked around, what I found was a darkened room devoid of décor that led into a narrow hallway. Slowly, I straightened myself up, advancing timidly into this new scene. I looked around, groping blindly for a light switch.

"H-hello…"

This place seemed to be totally abandoned. Did I come to the right suite? No, there was no mistaking it. This was the place, but… Where was the laboratory? Where was Dr. Kuseno? Maybe… Maybe it was a prank? But how did he know about my parents? A sigh of relief flew out of me when at last my fingers found the switch. I flipped it up, so happy to finally have some light… but instead, the floor fell away from beneath my feet and I found myself sliding down, down, down into a glistening metallic tunnel lined with red LEDs. I shrieked helplessly. What the hell was happening? This had to be some kind of nightmare, right? Was I going to wake up in Wonderland?

Soon, the tunnel gave way to a blinding white light and I found myself slammed face-first into a pristine tile floor. As my eyes adjusted to the light, everything seemed to be spinning. With a groan, I hoisted myself up on wobbly arms. What just happened?

"Ohhh! Akane-chan! Just in time! Come in, come in, take a seat!"

My eyes found a dowdy old man with a long tube-shaped nose and a gigantic bowl cut that fanned out on his head like an umbrella. He reached out to place a hand on my shoulder, but I wouldn't stand for it. With a shriek, I leapt back a good meter and a half, arms raised defensively.

He blinked in surprise, then realization washed over him. "Ah, I suppose that fall probably spooked you. Maybe I should have warned you! Anyway, let's see if some food won't help with that. There's someone I want you to meet, and then we can give you a nice tour of the facility."

He turned and began to cross the room with arms folded behind his back. Glancing around nervously, I soon settled down and hurried after him. Someone to meet. Great. Well, I was at least glad that he had skipped most of the tedious formalities that I could never, ever get the hang of. Maybe this Doctor Kuseno wasn't so bad.

Thus, I followed him through endless cinderblock hallways, past countless metal doors, some firmly shut, and others gaping open, teasing their contents with the blinking of LEDs and the shadows of dangling cables, gnarled machinery. Yet this place was less like a laboratory and more like a bunker. I skittered after the Doctor, who walked impressively fast for a man with such short legs.

"Um… Doctor Kuseno…" I began, winded from the effort.

"Hmm?" He wondered, slowing down.

"Who exactly are you taking me to—" _Clunk_. I stumbled back, hissing as I cradled my forehead. What in the world did I run into? It felt like a metal ma… ma… _a metal man_!?

My mouth fell open. I brushed all of the clumps of orange hair out of my eyes to make sure I got a good look. Sure enough, what stood before me was glimmering steel, bent and molded into the form of a man, and I followed the carefully crafted contours up to the face… the face… the face…

"Whoa…" I breathed. "It looks so real," I said, reaching up to touch the cheek. It was so soft, so pliable, like real human skin, and as I traced its curvature along the jawline to the chin, I marveled at the texture. Not even the best silicone facsimile could hold a candle to this material. My first thought was what this substance could possibly be.

My next thought was that I really, really wanted one.

A flush raced to my cheeks as I looked over the handsome features; the graceful curve of the lips, like that of a Mongolian bow at rest, the princely jawline, and focused, narrow, almond-shaped eyes that glowed in amber hues.

It was incredibly well-crafted (though the black sclera was an odd touch). My eyes sparkled with inspiration as I gazed at it. What an amazing work of art. What a tantalizing concept. And, most alluring, I mused, like my cute little vinyl figures, an android could never cast me aside. Why hadn't I ever thought of it before? The perfect man. How long would it take to make one?

Curious, I took a firm pinch of the cheek, to test its elasticity. Then, to my horror, it blinked, reached up, and snapped its cold metal hand around mine, gently directing it away with a frown. I yelped.

Doctor Kuseno laughed sheepishly. "Well, that's because it _is_ real," he said, smashing my dreams to smithereens.

My mind was somehow both blank and cataclysmic. Like a lone racer in an empty stadium, hugging the turns, heated and sweating in a claustrophobic cockpit, but where is she going and why? I backed away, heart pounding.

"S-sorry!" I managed to choke out, turning away to reflect with dread over what I'd done—and worse, what I'd thought. I had long since forbidden myself from ever going down that road again, after what happened in—

Doctor Kuseno cleared his throat. "Now, now, no need. Genos here is a cyborg, so it was probably an easy mistake to make," he reassured. "Genos, this is that Akane-chan I was telling you about."

Genos's eyes widened and he quickly closed the ample distance I had created and bowed at the waist. "It's an honor to meet the daughter of the brilliant Hawley McCrory. Please excuse my rudeness!"

I leaned away in fright. "Uh…"

Doctor Kuseno chuckled heartily and stepped forward to coax Genos out of his bow. "You'll have to forgive this boy. After all, without Old Hawley's research, he wouldn't be alive today!"

I swallowed down my nerves. So, he was a cyborg, right? That was _almost_ an android. So, maybe, if I just squinted my eyes a little, I could _pretend_ … Oh, who was I kidding? That acquaintance was well over before it began. No way I could ever possibly interact with him now.

Instead, my gaze drifted over to the room that Genos had come out of. Within it, a table surrounded by elaborate electronic equipment, lit up like an operating theater. A diagnostic room? I stepped over to it in a trance.

Dazzled, I danced from one machine to the next, fiddling with dials and admiring mechanisms. Soon, my eyes found something spectacular and my jaw slackened at the sight. Could it be…? It _was._ I wrapped my arms around a huge computer terminal, enjoying the cool, slightly textured surface of the chassis, the gentlest hum of the fans, the wonderful angular edges.

"Twenty thousand one hundred sixty cores, six hundred seventy-seven plus tera-flops, three petabytes of storage, and plays a damn good game of chess… Oh, baby, I missed you." I pressed my lips to it, caressing it gently.

Once upon a time, this same model served as the main system in my father's research facility. The Blue Genesis SR-Q. This thing was worth _millions_ , and wasn't even distributed to the public. I wondered how Kuseno got a hold of it. _This must be what love feels like_ , I mused. All morning, I had been terrified of the prospect of a chatter-fraught luncheon, and instead I found heaven. Just think of what you could do with a TOP500 supercomputer at your disposal!

Doctor Kuseno cleared his throat and I jumped. Beside him, Genos stood, quirking a brow at my antics. I straightened, rubbing my arm self-consciously, feeling, through the folds of my sweater, all of the creases, bolts, and cables anew. No matter how many years passed, I could never quite get used to it.

"Well, with our introductions complete at last, what do you say to a few sandwiches?"

My stomach roared in response and my freckle-dusted cheeks reddened as the Doctor chuckled.

* * *

A/N: Okay, this chapter is kind of... well, lazily edited. I feel like it's not my best, so I apologize for any places where it just sucks. :(

That said, I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, especially my repeat reviewer! It's so encouraging to know that people are reading. I appreciate it so much.


	4. Chapter 4

As we dug into our lunch, graciously prepared by the domestically adept Genos, I kept my gaze fixed on the table top, chewing with caution to avoid making any weird faces... though I suspected my efforts were a bit counterproductive, judging by Kuseno's concerned expression.

"So... Akane-chan," the Doctor began, setting his plate aside. "I know you haven't had a proper tour yet, but how does it suit you? Have you given any thought to—"

"I'll take the job!" I exclaimed, standing up abruptly, slamming my hands down on the table with surprising force.

Taken aback, Doctor Kuseno blinked stupidly, and then he began to laugh. He wiped his eyes. "I'm so relieved!"

Quickly sobered by his reaction, I sat down, red-faced, throwing my hood back over my head and trying to sink into my scarf.

"I worked with Old Hawley for most of my career, you know, and Sakako-chan was my student. It was I who introduced them, so naturally I'm very pleased to be able to do something for them." His eyes glazed over as he looked out into the room at no point in particular. I shifted awkwardly.

Suddenly, Genos appeared at my side and I jumped away in alarm. "Would you like another sandwich, senpai?" He calmly asked.

"Uh… 'S-sen…pai'…?" I questioned as I looked him over, a strange picture with his huge metal arms, the sleeves shredded from his shirt, topped off with a frilly pink apron. Being called 'senpai' by a handsome sandwich-making cyborg was so… weird. Anime levels of weird. _I think you mean hooot_ , I pretended not to have thought.

Doctor Kuseno returned to reality in that moment, and cheerfully added: "Anyway, with Genos fighting all of these powerful enemies lately, I'm not sure I can keep up with all of the repairs by myself!"

I tilted my head. "'Powerful enemies'?" What could that mean? Was he some kind of battle bot? And here I was under the impression he was just a housekeeper. But I guess that would be kind of wasteful, wouldn't it?

"Indeed," Kuseno went on. "Just last week, he destroyed both of his arms battling a—what was it, my lad?"

Genos straightened up like an overeager cadet called to attention, and he began: "A giant cockroach monster appeared in City A, threatening to consume everything in its path. Along with its enormous size and strength, it boasted extremely rapid reproduction and adaptability, and claimed the endurance to survive a three-hundred-year nuclear fallout. I, Genos, took this creature on, with the lives of millions at stake. While at first, it seemed that the battle would be quick, it soon proved more formidable than it appeared, and in no time, even my blasters proved ineffective against the hordes of—"

"Yes, yes, I think we get the picture," Kuseno interrupted. But I had leaned in, captivated. It sounded just like an action-packed shounen manga. Who wouldn't want to hear the whole story? I pursed my lips, disappointed. How did he defeat the cockroach monster? I needed to know! Was it actually one monster, or was it more like a whole bunch of small cockroaches that formed a monster, or—

"Well, since that's settled, Genos, why don't you give Akane-chan the tour of the facility?"

My mouth fell open in surprise. A tour sounded wonderful, but… through a curtain of peach pit locks I turned my gaze to the tall and imposing Genos. It wasn't that he was a cyborg. That was cool as heck, and nothing would please me more than to unscrew his chest plate and root around in the clockwork, but he was also—I gulped—a guy. And rooting around in _that_ clockwork was a less pleasing notion. There were too many variables, too many uncertainties, not enough cold metal and rigid science. Reluctantly, I edged away.

Genos frowned and tilted his head questioningly. What could be going through his mind? I was sure… I must look really weird. I hadn't even taken a shower. Here I was in a room with a punch-bowl haircut geezer and a teen cyborg, and I felt like I was the one out of place; I was the—I stiffened.

" _What's wrong with your arm? And why is your hair orange? Are you even Japanese? Freak!"_

The freak, right? I clutched my prosthetic tighter than ever. Be brave, Akane. It's just a tour. You can pretend he's all robot. Just talk about specs. This is the one time in your life when that's an acceptable topic of conversation, so…

I shook my head. There was nothing to be scared of. If he ended up hating me, it would only be par for the course.

"Uh… W-well, if you don't mind," I mumbled, stepping a little closer.

Genos shut his eyes, expression dutiful, and removed his apron. Doctor Kuseno beamed. "There you have it. I'm sure you kids will find something to talk about. In the meantime, I'll see if I can analyze some of this combat data…"

In the barren hallways of the facility, I fell in step with Genos, whose stride was quick, whose gaze was forward, as he led me through the maze of hallways, in and out of rooms, giving extensive details on all of the equipment. "However," he repeatedly admitted after listing off _exhaustive_ descriptions, "I don't really know much about it". Yeah right.

It was incredible to think that a facility this size was hidden underneath the streets of City Z, right in the middle of an ordinary shopping district. I wondered what it took to get the permits to build this… or if there was a devious city-ordinance-defying anarchist hidden under Kuseno's giant hairdo.

"Um…"

Genos stopped and turned to me attentively, and I instantly regretted ever opening my mouth.

"Did you have a question, senpai?"

I swallowed. Did he really have to call me 'senpai'? My cheeks heated and I pulled my hood a little closer around my head. "Wh-which way is the… the…"

He blinked at me uncomprehendingly. The what? The diagnostics lab? The workshop? He had no idea. I wasn't even sure if he would know where to point me. Did he have any need of that particular facility? Did he still have the required equipment? I thought I saw him eating earlier, but…

I swallowed down my nerves. "The… bathroom…?"

Completely unfazed, he pointed one shiny metal finger at the hallway just behind us. "First door on the right."

Feeling small and pathetic, I quickly scuttled in that direction. If I tried really hard, could I maybe just become one with the toilet seat and disappear forever? I wondered. No, no, not the toilet seat. What was I thinking? Did I really want people pressing their butts to my face for the rest of eternity? Maybe the mirror would be better. Yes. Then people would look into the mirror and all they would ever see would be their own faces, and I could finally be anyone but myself. Hah.

I sighed. It was kind of cool, though, meeting a cyborg superhero. Maybe he could fly or shoot laser beams from his eyes. That would be so awesome. I wondered idly about the exact structures that composed his body; whether he was solar or nuclear, what exact alloys composed his outer shell, and if his joints were hydraulic or electric. I clapped happily, wobbling to-and-fro upon the porcelain throne, giddy at the very thought.

 _But wait_ , I thought, snapped suddenly out of my daydream by dreaded lucidity. _He's still human, so isn't this the same as objectifying him?_ I gasped aloud, pulling my hood clear over my face. It was, wasn't it? Should I be ashamed? Would he even care? _Jesus, you're acting like you raped him_ , I pretended not to have thought. _I mean, the FCC probably wouldn't even blur out his crotch, so…_

I don't know. Why do they blur out crotches in the first place? There's nothing inherently sexual about human genitalia. They put it in textbooks, right? Gynecologists physically interact with hundreds of hoo-has every day, and they don't, like, become aroused, right? Not that I'd ever had the nerve to get a pelvic exam. Nothing all that interesting about flappy folds of flesh. And yet, here I was feeling guilty for thinking about the mechanics of a sentient machine. The real issue must have been whether or not he had feelings about it, then? Yes. Feelings were so complicated and icky.

I began to wonder, completely against my better judgment, which human structures still remained—If his adrenal systems were intact—Did he feel fear? Exhilaration? Happiness? Love? A terrifying notion, and yet, as I thought upon it, these were all feelings that didn't exist solely in the brain, that required the participation of other organs, that grounded humanity in the physical realm, that put a stop to all questions of soul and spirit, leaving only the marvelous realm of sweet, predictable science. Was it perhaps still possible to understand this creature on objective bases?

I began to bite my nails agitatedly. Scientific curiosity was ordinarily a pleasant pastime, but this was an ordeal. I curled up on the toilet seat, holding myself tightly. What a truly frightening being I had encountered. Human, or machine? A question that could be so easily taken for granted in fiction, but in practice posed so many complex dilemmas that it made my head spin. I could ask him... but then again, it's me, so I really can't.

A knock on the door startled me out of my reverie and I yelped.

" _Senpai? Is everything alright?_ "

Panicking, I jumped up off of the toilet. "E-everything's— _Ah_!" I shrieked, tripping over my own pants, and landing with a crash on the bare cement floor. "Ohhh…"

"… _Senpai_?" Genos tried again.

"I'm fine…" I groaned defeatedly as I stood back up dizzily. Except, I soon realized, I wasn't fine at all. Dangling limply at my side, little motors clicking pathetically as they tried in vain to bend shattered joints, was my arm. I must have landed on my elbow. I let out a yowl of surprise.

"No way!"

" _Senpai!? I'm coming in!_ "

"N-no wait, don—!"

But, heedless of my objections, Genos burst through the doorway, and the door itself, popped from its hinges, flew across the little restroom, crashing into the sink, a fist-shaped dent right in its middle. Water began to spew from the pipes.

I gaped, dumbfounded and awestruck, at the blonde cyborg who obliviously began to assess the situation. As his gaze turned to me, I frantically toiled, one-handed, to pull my pants up, but it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

"G-get out! Don't look!" I yelped. But Genos just stood there, staring wide-eyed, face slowly draining of color as mine swiftly sampled the spectrum of reds one shade at a time.

"Excuse me…" he eventually muttered, stiffly stepping back out of the bathroom, visibly shaken.

Mortified, I went on struggling with my pants, twice slipping on the newly formed puddle of water beneath my sneakers, and eventually, I was able to emerge from the wreckage of the bathroom, never less triumphant in my life.

Genos stood just outside, waiting like a bouncer with his arms crossed. Thankfully, we both seemed to be keen on avoiding eye contact. I cleared my throat.

"Uh… my… my arm broke."

To my horror, his eyebrows shot up and he turned to look at me with concern. His mouth opened as if to speak, and then quickly closed as he spied the vaguely skin-colored plastic of limp phalanges that drooped conspicuously at the end of my sleeve. He blinked.

"You're… also a cyborg?"

Taken aback, I balked. "I… what? N-no, it's a… This is obviously— I-I mean, I guess, depending on where you draw the line? Good question…"

"…Doctor Kuseno will be glad to fix it, I'm sure." With that, he began to march back down the hall and, baffled, I skittered after him quickly.

* * *

A/N: I dunno about this one. It seems with each new chapter, I feel less and less confident about this. ;_; But, hey, we're not too far from the action now, so please bear with me. Thank you everyone who has reviewed, fave'd, or followed! You're the best!

Also, anybody watch/read Mob Psycho 100? I finally binged it on CR a couple days ago, and it was Awesoooooome.


	5. Chapter 5

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Doctor Kuseno admonished as he looked over the fractured joint of my prosthetic.

I gulped. "S-sorry. I know I should be more careful, but—"

"Oh, poppycock, I'm just baffled you didn't toss this dumpy thing in the trash ages ago!"

I raised my brows in befuddlement, mouth hanging open like a chute door, watching from behind the protective curtain of my bangs as he did exactly that—directly into the trash.

"B-but—!"

"Tut, tut! Just think how much more useful it would be if you had, say, titanium plating, a pneumatic actuator, or ooh, maybe a few plasma blasters!"

I edged away uncomfortably. "Um… that sounds great, but can I just settle for a can opener instead?"

Doctor Kuseno laughed. "You have your mother's sense of humor, I see. Plasma blasters it is!"

"Er… on second thought, maybe I'll just build my own..."

"Ah, capital idea! After all, there's no substitute for custom engineering. Of course, you'll probably need something to use for the time being…"

I started to laugh awkwardly, but then I happened to spot Genos sitting stiffly on a nearby chair, looking at me with unnecessary intensity, and I was promptly silenced. I began to reach helplessly for the end of the cot where my sweater and scarf had been set aside, but it was too far and, as I stretched frantically with no counterweight, I ended up slipping over the edge of the cot with a yelp. I probably would have landed face first, but instead, a cold, rock-solid arm snaked around my waist and carefully straightened me out.

"Oh! Are you alright, Akane-chan? Nice catch, Genos!"

I made a miserable sound as my cheeks tinged. Alarmed and embarrassed, I squirmed away, quickly diving into my scarf and hoodie, wrapping them around myself like a suit of armor. My knees were shaking.

"Hmm? Oh, I suppose it _is_ a bit chilly in here…" Kuseno said, reaching for the thermostat. _How can the old man be so observant and so dense at the same time_ , I pretended not to wonder.

I turned my eyes up for a second, only to snap them away when my gaze met that of the oblivious Genos, who reached up to scratch his head. I wondered if it was actually itchy or if it was just a lingering human reflex.

"Well, then…" Doctor Kuseno hummed. "I suppose you should go and get your things while I break out the 3D printer, eh?"

"My… my things…?"

Kuseno smiled. "Well, of course! At the very least, a change of clothes. I'm sure you'll want to change eventually."

"W-wait a minute… Are you saying you expect me to stay here?"

Kuseno blinked. "Certainly. It would be a bit inconvenient if you were all the way across town when we needed you most, after all. Oh, but of course you can stay home on the weekends. A young lady needs personal time, after all."

My jaw flapped open. He _had_ to be kidding. I couldn't stay _here_. I… I… Well, would that really be so bad, actually? After all, how well was I really faring at home? At least here, most of the cleaning was automated, and I certainly couldn't complain about having access to all of this incredible equipment. Instead of having to cook, I could just eat when Doctor Kuseno eats. And anyway, Kuseno himself wasn't so bad. He sort of reminded me of my dad, in fact. Blissfully absorbed in his work, too preoccupied to ever think a bad thought about anyone.

The problem was Genos. He was a cyborg, sure, and you would think that would make him a little easier to stomach, but… he kept making these completely unreadable facial expressions! I couldn't tell what he was thinking at all! How could I possibly work with that? Especially when he kept invading my personal space and calling me 'senpai' all the time! Well, I supposed that if I avoided him, it might not be too bad.

I sighed. "I…"

"Ah!" Kuseno interrupted, lifting his index finger in sudden realization. "I suppose since you're slightly handicapped, it wouldn't do to send you on your own. Genos, would you tag along and give Akane-chan a hand?"

My jaw flapped open. How could he! And right when I had just got done thinking that I needed to avoid Genos! I held my hand up to object, but Kuseno didn't seem to notice.

"Ahahaha, not literally, though, come to think of it; I don't think your arms would fit her," the Doctor chuckled. _Really, doc?_ _The 'give me a hand' joke?_ I pretended not to groan internally.

Yet, unable to find the courage to interject, I deflated.

As Kuseno had said, though my mother's house was in fact in City Z, it was quite literally across town from Kuseno's laboratory, which meant a pretty long commute… the entirety of which I now had to spend in awkward silence, anxiously avoiding eye contact with Genos. Two buses, a train ride, and soon enough, a ten-minute walk through suburban sprawl.

It didn't help at all that the majority of the journey was spent in the center of a bubble of curious onlookers, shooting wary glances at Genos, whispering conspiratorially amongst themselves. The area had always been kind of a hotbed of monster rampages, and Genos didn't exactly look non-threatening. But at least nobody was looking at me when they were preoccupied with him.

I spent a lot of time clutching the nub on my shoulder where my arm was supposed to be, trying to pretend I was alone, trying to drown out all of the activity around me, and trying to reflect rationally on the events of the day.

Was it really a good idea to accept Kuseno's job offer so hastily? I really did want to know more about my father, but…

"Senpai," Genos suddenly called.

"Huh!?" I snapped my head up, drawn out of a deep reverie. How long had I been zoning out?

"This is our stop, right?"

I looked up at the map over the door, and sure enough, there we were. City Z, Block 62. Fiddling with the end of my sleeve, I stepped meekly to the door, standing behind a couple of giggling high school girls. Genos followed stoically, and I wondered how he could stand so straight. I suppose when your body is made of metal plates and rubber gaskets, posture is less of a hassle, yet I couldn't help but feel that there was a mental aspect of it, too. I was sure that if I were a cyborg, I would still slouch.

The bus jerked to a standstill at the stop and I stumbled awkwardly into one of the girls in front of me. She let out a yelp and turned to me with a scoff.

"Hey, watch where you're—whoa."

I backed away in fright only to yelp when my back bumped into Genos' rock-solid frame. He seemed a little perplexed, but said nothing. Gulping, I turned back to the girls who were now nursing disbelieving smirks. What was up with that?

I sank into my scarf a bit and tried to pull my hood down. Why were they looking at me like that? Why weren't they looking at Genos? _Hello, do you not see the super-hot cyborg behind me_ , I pretended not to have thought.

"Oh. My. _God._ " The taller of girls whispered, flipping her bleached hair and obscuring a gleeful smile with one hand as she turned to the other girl scandalously.

The other girl, shorter and dark haired, returned her glance. "Is that…?"

"It totally is."

They both turned to the door, snickering quietly amongst themselves. "I thought she got sent to a mental institution," the taller one whispered. A pang of dread awakened in my chest. Were they… old schoolmates?

"Shush, she can hear us!" the short one cautioned. As the doors fell open with a pneumatic hiss, they hurried out of the bus and down the sidewalk, giggling like hyenas. Genos and I stepped out a moment after and as the bus sped away, I watched them, perplexed.

"They seemed to know you, senpai," Genos remarked.

Yeah. They definitely did. As I wrapped my arm around my torso, squeezing an empty sleeve to my side, I tried to contain myself. Now I remembered why the thought of stepping outside was so terrifying. There were still people out there who hadn't forgotten about… what I did.

"Senpai…?" Genos placed his hand on my shoulder and I tore away in surprise, stumbling back into a signpost.

I realized I was breathing heavily, and sweat dripped down my face. When I saw the confusion on my companion's face, it was all I could do to steady myself and mumble out an awkward apology. This wasn't the time for a panic attack. I took a deep breath.

"It's… it's this way…" I said, starting down the sidewalk in the opposite direction the girls had gone.

Soon enough, we made it to my mother's house, a little suburban townhome surrounded in front by a high stone wall, edged with slowly browning shrubs. Beside a metal gate was a small solar lamp and a plaque bearing the characters for pine tree and book—my mother's family name, Matsumoto.

I slipped a key into the lock and, after some fenagling, worked the gate open. It creaked for want of oil, and I cringed, but tried my best to ignore it. Inside of the walled-in yard was the shriveled remains of a small garden, and a discarded bag of trash. A broken wind chime hung over the porch, gathering rust.

As we stepped inside, I dropped my backpack by the door and started in—only to freeze in place as I stepped out of the mud room. I turned to Genos, who had just stepped over the threshold and was looking around curiously at everything; the coat hooks where my mother's blazers still hung, the umbrella rack where her umbrella still rested, the assortment of black heels in the corner that hadn't been touched since the day she walked through that door for the last time.

This, the most disused room in all the house, the only one that held no use for a fidgety, pathetic recluse like me, was the only room that wasn't… well, a complete disaster.

I cleared my throat. "Um… you can just stay right here," I said.

Genos quirked a brow. "Doctor Kuseno requested that I assist you in gathering your belongings."

I tugged at my scarf. Suddenly, it felt really hot in the room. I tried to back away from him. "I… I'm just getting a few clothes. No big deal."

"I don't mind helping, senpai. I know how difficult it can be to maneuver with only one hand."

"N-no, it's just—"

"Please, senpai, I insist. If the difficulty is so great that you can't even remove your own shoes upon entering your home, I would be remiss not to do everything in my power to ease your burden."

I found myself blinking. Slowly, I turned my gaze down to my feet, clad in muddy sneakers. If mother saw that, she'd murder me. It wasn't that I couldn't take them off, it just… literally did not occur to me. Meanwhile, Genos had already removed his and slipped into a pair of fluffy slippers.

"Uh…"

Gulping, I awkwardly kicked my sneakers off into the corner. "S-see?" I said. "No hands needed."

"With all due respect senpai, I'm sure packing your clothes won't be as easy."

He seemed determined to refuse my objections and was already making his way into the house. I could have stood firm, I could have insisted, but I just kept backing up as he delved further and further into the depths of my trash-encrusted home.

"W-wait… Stop… You shouldn't…!" I feebly cried.

When we came into the living room, he stopped in his tracks.

"Senpai…"

I gulped. Did I feel a fainting spell coming on? My heart was pounding. I could already hear my mother screaming bloody murder from the great beyond. How could I let her precious house fall into such calamitous disrepair? How could I allow a stranger to see it in such a state? I could almost feel the ground shaking as she thrashed in her grave.

"This place is a complete mess," he said factually. It was neither accusatory nor judgmental, and yet I felt as though I had been harpooned through the chest.

"I… I…"

He shut his eyes pensively. "Senpai, is this why you didn't want me to come into the house?"

I opened my mouth to answer but the only thing that came out was a whimper.

He sighed. "Please go back outside, senpai."

I knitted my brows in confusion. Go outside? Was the shocking state of the house so upsetting that he couldn't stand another second among the squalor and filth? I guess I didn't blame him. I wondered if he could smell the kitchen sink from here. I sure could.

 _If your B.O. wasn't a clue about your house, I doubt his olfactory senses are intact_ , some part of me cuttingly observed.

"I will take care of the rest," he added.

Wait, what?

"…Huh?"

Before I knew it, I was being bulldozed across the living room and toward the front door.

"No need to worry, senpai. It's the least I can do after hearing about your recent loss."

What? Was he serious? There was no way I could allow—

 _Thunk._

I found myself unceremoniously deposited on the porch, the door shut soundly behind me. My mouth fell open. I whirled around and grabbed hold of the doorknob, but it wouldn't budge. Had he locked the door? No way! I jiggled it frantically. If he was really going to clean my house, there was stuff in my room that he _definitely_ should not see. Stuff that would have put my mother in her grave with shame if she weren't already there! I was already turning blue just thinking about it. Forget the piles of trash and soiled clothes. Forget the stacks upon stacks of dirty dishes. Forget the moldy sandwich by the bed! He was going to see my underwear! My doujins! My… my you-know-what!

I started to pound on the door. "Genos, please stop! This is crazy! I can do it myself! Please don't go in my room! Genos!? Genos…!"

After a solid five minutes of screaming into the void, I slid down the door, defeated. When I looked up, I met eyes with the next-door neighbor, gaping dumbfoundedly at me, a dribbling hose hanging limp in her hand. I sank into my scarf and dove for a corner, out of sight, cowering and sniveling pathetically.

"This isn't happening," I mumbled to myself. "This is just a bad dream. You're not locked out of the house, exposed to the world. There aren't any superhero cyborgs digging through your unmentionables. Just take a deep breath, Akane. Everything is going to be okay."

I said that, but I was actually not following my own advice as the words slipped out of my lips in rapid, shaky yelps.

"Oh, Mommy…" I eventually squeaked.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it's been a long time. I decided that in order to not feel like absolute poop about this story, I had to step away from it for a little bit, and, lo and behold, what I had written didn't seem so awful when I came back! Once again, I want to thank people who have reviewed, fave'd, and followed!

One person pointed out a few things that I think it wouldn't hurt to clarify:

Regarding the bathroom scene in the last chapter: the bathroom is handicap accessible (so pretty large), and the way I imagine it was set up, the door was directly across from the sink, and the toilet was on the wall to the right of the door. In theory, Genos should have been able to tell where in the bathroom she was from the sound of her voice, therefore, there would have been no danger of hitting Akane with the door. As for why he went in at all, I suspect Genos either assumed she was done or forgot what people who don't have iron crotches use the bathroom for and believing, thanks to her unnecessarily loud shrieking, that she was in trouble, burst through the door to her rescue. In other words, this fic is operating on the assumption that Genos is as much of a socially inept idiot as its protagonist.

Regarding Akane's hair: There was some confusion about Akane's hair being described as orange even though the girl in the title picture has brown hair. Well, the girl in the title picture isn't Akane so much as it is Mayhem, who will come up later in the story. Akane is half Japanese and half Irish, and she has red hair. You can see what she looks like here: sta . sh/011xfbo5u9il (just take out the spaces)

Anywho, the next chapter should be out soon. In the meantime, please enable me with your tasty, tasty reviews!


	6. Chapter 6

Eventually, the door flapped open and I slowly uncurled from my spot in the corner, where I had spent the last two hours sobbing quietly. Genos stood in the doorway, wearing my mother's apron and a pair of latex gloves. Over his shoulder was a mop. He looked strangely heroic there, standing tall, with the hallway light gleaming behind him. He scanned the yard, seemingly searching for something. At last, his eyes found me.

"Senpai?" He suddenly dropped the mop and flew across the yard to kneel in front of me. "What happened senpai?" he demanded.

I backed a little further into the corner, eyes growing wide with fright. I realized I must have looked absolutely devastated. I hadn't even cried this much when I heard my mother was gone. He was probably thinking I had just witnessed a massacre in his absence or something, but here I was, literally having a breakdown over somebody touching my stuff. _You absolute weenie_ , I pretended not to have thought.

"I… I…"

Genos shut his eyes solemnly, and then stood up. He held his hand out to me and I eyed it warily. Still, he held it out, waiting patiently. My eyes, cloaked beneath a curtain of ginger locks, scanned the smooth, gleaming surface of his palm. Steel and brass beamed brilliantly under the orange hues of the setting sun. I sniffed up a river of snot and wiped my nose on my sleeve, still backed against the corner like a scared puppy. He wasn't… gonna… yell at me, or something? Well, now I wasn't sure why I thought he would.

I thought about taking his hand. Part of me wanted to think of it as no different from a stair-rail, an inanimate thing with a purpose to serve. But I had already decided that that was wrong. I had already decided that that hand was a human appendage, and that taking it would mean too much. So, instead, I stood up on my own wobbly legs and dusted my pants off awkwardly, socked toes wiggling apprehensively on the pavement. Genos retracted his offered hand, seeming unfazed, and instead went to hold the door open for me. I stepped past him into the hallway meekly.

Instantly, my nostrils were assailed by the grand, orchestral glory of pine-scented cleaning products. The long lost vacuu-bot that I had made for mom's last birthday came whirring up the hallway, like a dog coming to greet its master. _Where were you when this place was a mess,_ I pretended not to admonish it.

As it came to the lip of the hallway, it's delicately tuned sensors preempting a fall, it stopped and turned the other way, and I followed it cautiously up the hall. The first room I came to was the kitchen, and I wandered in, parting ways from the dutiful robot which carried on down the hall. Inside, I found the counters and the sink sparkling like a ballroom. The floor, once caked in tracked-in dirt and unidentifiable food-splatters, glistened serenely.

I moved through the room to the other door, into the dining room where a similar scene awaited. The table was finally visible, all of those scraps of candy wrappers and empty ramen cups cleared away at last.

Next was the living room, divested of its former layer of trash. Mom's CDs had been restored to the safety of their jewel cases and organized alphabetically on the shelf. All of the stains and caked in foodstuff had been miraculously pried from the carpet.

Already stunned beyond words, I moved past this room to the hallway bathroom, peaking in curiously. The toilet and the sink were astonishingly white again, all of the grime scrubbed from their surfaces. The shower had been cured of the coat of orange hair that once clung to its tiled walls like a fur. As I leaned in a little further, I marveled that I could _actually see_ into the mirror, once clouded with a thick fog of smudges and toothpaste splatters— _you know, from back when you were still brushing your teeth_ , I pretended not to have thought.

I went back out into the hallway where the bedrooms lay side-by-side. Mom's, of course, was off-limits. I had locked it from the inside, and I didn't even want to know if Genos had gone in there. So, next came the part that I dreaded. I stepped warily up to my room and, reaching around the doorframe for the light switch, I flipped it on.

To my utter shock, the floor was visible. I had forgotten what it even looked like. A visible gap between the bottom of my bed frame and the surface of the floor was modestly bridged by a clean bed skirt, no longer the dirty thing dotted with boogers that I recognized. The sheets were neatly made, and even more impressively, they actually matched, which meant some laundry had been done.

My fleet of vinyl figures had been relocated to the shelf that had until now been housing my collection of dirty cups. They looked like they had been individually cleaned, too. My desk had been cleared of tissues, wrappers, and dishes, too, and the various stationery and electronics rearranged into an orderly array. He even tidied the mess of cables for me.

I pulled open a drawer of my dresser. Horrifyingly, what I found was a series of stacks of neatly folded panties. The white ones, the striped ones, the ones covered in cartoon cats, the boyshorts, the briefs, the ones with little bows on the front. All there. I quickly slammed the drawer shut, hoping and praying that through some miracle he managed to fold them without touching or looking at them. That was the only way I'd ever be able to sleep peacefully again.

I wandered over to the shelf that housed my manga collection, which had previously been in a pile beside my desk. They were all there, too, organized by genre and then by title. I flushed when I realized the hentai manga had been placed in its own separate category. How I prayed he hadn't looked at the content to determine that category.

Stacked neatly on top of the dirty manga were my BLCDs, also alphabetized. I couldn't stomach the horror if he had at any point stopped to listen to one of them. Especially not the one with Ishikawa-kun, where he and so-and-so do such-and-such with a… Oh god, please not the one with Ishikawa-kun. I pulled my hood over my face so hard that I heard a few of the stitches pop. Then, I stiffened. What about that… other… thing I was worried about?

Gulping, I let go of my hood and went over to the night stand, fingers already trembling as I reached for the top drawer. I pulled it open slowly and it rattled on the track to the rhythm of my nervous hand. Sure enough, there it was, nice and clean and bright purple. It even had new batteries. I slammed the drawer shut.

He has no idea what it is _,_ I tried to reassure myself. He thinks it's a back massager.

Yep. He definitely thinks it's a back massager.

 _He knows what it is, idiot. Say, I wonder if_ his _thing vibra—_ No! No no no no no no. Don't go there. I collapsed into a ball on the floor, rocking back and forth slowly. Is this what mother felt like as her time drew near? Did she feel the icy claw of death gripping her tightly as I now do? Take me now, pale horseman! Deliver me from this mortal despair! Carry me gently into the sweet release of the end! Let not this poor soul wallow at the banks of—

"Senpai?"

I froze.

"Is everything alright? I apologize if anything is out of place."

Dear god why.

"Er… If anything is missing, I will do my best to locate it for you."

How could this be any worse? Suddenly, he was starting to sound like Ishikawa-kun.

"I also took the liberty of preparing a meal, though there wasn't much food in the kitchen…"

DEAR GOD WHY.

"Um… I'll lay it out on the table, so please take your time with… er… please excuse me."

The sound of him hurrying down the hallway was like music to my ears. I popped my head out of the ball of despair, gasping for breath, and plopped back on my bum. I ran my fingers through the greasy strands of my hair.

"It's too much," I said to myself in barely a whisper, voice crackling weakly. "I feel like I'm going to pop."

I knew I should never have let him come with me. I knew I shouldn't have left the house. I knew I shouldn't have answered the phone. What was I thinking? If I had just stayed home, I could have ordered takeout for the rest of my life and made myself useful debugging endless login pages.

 _Yeah, but if you wasted your life like that, you'd be better off dead_ , I pretended not to have thought. But that was true, wasn't it? At least, for me, wasn't that how I really felt… somewhere deep inside?

I took a deep breath. Then, summoning all of my strength and courage, I stood up and went back out to the dining room. When I entered, I found Genos standing by, a cellphone pressed to his ear.

"Yes, everything is fine. Sorry for worrying you. We're having dinner at senpai's house… No, I don't think it will be a problem. We should be back before—Doctor Kuseno?"

I tilted my head at the conversation. Suddenly, Genos' expression became frantic and I wondered what was the matter.

"Doctor Kuseno, what is it?"He demanded.

"— _ut me on—eakerphone_!" I overheard. Genos put the phone on speaker right away.

" _Akane-chan, can you hear me_!?" Doctor Kuseno cried.

"Um… y-yes?"

" _You both need to get out of there,_ right now!"

"Wh… what? What do you mean? Why?"

" _There's no time to explain! Your lives are in danger! You must get back to the laboratory immediately! Genos—whatever happens, keep Akane-chan safe!_ "

"Yes, Doctor," Genos reassured, sure and clear, like a soldier taking orders. "You can count on me." Before I knew it, Genos had slung a packed duffel bag across his chest and tucked me under his arm by the waist like a ragdoll, braced himself at the legs, and…

Promptly burst through my ceiling in a single leap.

"M-my house…!" I squeaked, holding my hand out to the ruined rooftop as it drifted further and further away, one flying leap at a time. Genos seemed completely oblivious to my distress.

Swallowing down a newly formed lump in my throat, I tried to lift myself up to relieve some of the pressure on my ribs, but with only one arm it was impossible.

"C…Couldn't you have used the front door!?" I cried, squirming ineffectively.

"Please hold still, senpai," Genos calmly instructed. "I'm holding on loosely, so if you move too much, you may fall."

"You just blew a hole through my roof!"

"My apologies, senpai, I will gladly pay for the repairs once we're safe."

"Safe from _what_!? There's nothing to— _GYAH!_ "

As a huge rocket flew passed us, just nearly grazing my nose, I curled reflexively into a quivering ball. _As if that's going to help!_ I pretended not to think.

"Don't be alarmed, senpai. I will protect you."

Oh really!? I had nothing to say to that. Instead, as I heard the explosion in the distance, I flinched a little tighter into my ball. Please, please let it have landed in some safely uninhabited building. I imagined the agonized howls of dying neighborhood children, their mothers' roasted corpses sizzling in the flames. God no, please not that.

I detected the slightest tensing of Genos' arm as he came to a stop on a rooftop. The shingles beneath his feet had been converted into rubble.

"There you are." He said darkly, abruptly changing directions.

I let out a cry of fright. There _who_ is? Were we going _toward_ the danger? Weren't we supposed to be heading back to the lab?

As I puzzled this in a panic, I found myself suddenly set down, very gently, in a soggy lawn behind an unfamiliar house. Genos plopped the duffle bag down on my lap. I looked up at him in perplexity.

"Take cover here," he instructed, still looking up at the sky. "This won't take long."

And with that, he leapt onto the roof in a single bound. I watched, slack-jawed, as he went, leaving only a little cascade of crumbling gable in his wake. Was he seriously just going to leave me here!? Tossing the duffle bag aside, I hoisted myself up and ran as quickly as I could around the corner, to the front of the house. Far ahead, and well beyond my reach was Genos, traversing the rooftops, his form so tiny in the distance that it resembled a flea.

"G… _Genos_!" I screamed.

A small movement drew my eyes toward the house's driveway, where I saw a mother, midway through pulling her toddler out of the car, frozen in shock as she gaped at me. We made eye contact—dreadful, dreadful eye contact, but there was no time to think about that now.

"Go inside!" I told her. "It's dangerous, so hurry!"

And with that, I bolted across the street and through the next yard, dodging around trash cans and startled residents. Somewhere along the way, I lost my scarf. In one spot I toppled someone's barbecue, but I didn't stay long enough to get cursed out.

At last, two blocks down, I came to a chain link fence and balked. But I had to keep going. Sucking in a deep breath and letting out a growl, I flung myself as high as I could and grabbed on with my one scrawny arm, and it took tremendous toil to keep from falling immediately as my toes groped for footholds. This one task, at least, was a little bit easier without my shoes. Little by little, I crawled my way up the fence, hanging on by my very teeth to make up for my missing arm. At the top, I threw myself over and landed with a resounding thud on my butt, breathing heavily.

What was I doing? What was I _thinking_? I was supposed to stay put, take cover. That was the rational thing to do. I was no kind of superhero. Me, a long-sedentary, uncoordinated, clumsy amputee? I couldn't fight something that could fire rockets at me! I probably wouldn't even be a match for a coconut! I'd probably look into its beady, intimidating little eyes and piss myself!

I cradled my head in my hands, trying to shake myself out of my idiocy. Looking down between the houses, I could still see the house that I'd just come from. Meanwhile, Genos was already miles away. I'd never catch up anyway. I couldn't even tell where he was going to begin with.

* * *

A/N: Hello! I'm so so sorry for disappearing for so long. I got commissioned to do a really freaking huge mural and pretty much all of my time has been consumed by that. I'll be posting pics on my deviantART (zerohope2survive) if anyone is curious. It was an absolute nightmare, though, especially mixing everything from primary colors. ;_;

Anyway, here's a new chapter. I hope you enjoy it. It might be a little while before I get anything new out. Like Akane, my house is a disaster, so I have to do some-okay, a lot of cleaning. Somebody send Genos and Levi over, pls. Dx


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